Women's Ice Hockey

Bears Fall To #6 Harvard, 4-0, In Season Finale

Cambridge, MA -
Unable to overcome a penalty differential that at one point favored #6 Harvard (21-6-2, 17-4-1 ECACHL, 8-1-1 Ivy) 9-1, the Brown women's hockey team (10-17-2, 6-15-1 ECACHL, 2-8-0 Ivy) ended its season with a 4-0 loss on Saturday. Sophomore goaltender Nicole Stock (Buffalo Grove, IL) was again busy, making 37 saves less than 24 hours after setting a career high with 45 against #3 Dartmouth.

For the second straight day, the Bears' opponent picked up its first goal with a two-skater advantage. Brown was called for a pair of penalties at 17:18, giving Harvard two full minutes of a five-on-three, with another penalty at 17:58 filling Brown's half of the penalty box. The Bears were able to kill most of the penalties, but after several spectacular saves and near-misses, the Crimson finally struck, as Caitlin Cahow one-timed the puck through Stock's five-hole for the first goal of the game.

Harvard struck again at 4:45 in the second period. Forward Julie Chu, who assisted on the first goal, received a centering pass from linemate Sarah Vaillancourt on a Crimson rush, then beat Stock high stick-side. Vaillancourt then put the game away in the third period, scoring once on a power play off a one-timer from the left faceoff circle, then later on a breakaway to make the final score 4-0.

For the game, Harvard held a 41-15 advantage on shots. Over a stretch of just over 33 minutes beginning late in the first period and ending in the third, the Crimson were called for no penalties, while the Bears were called for seven. After four Harvard penalties in the final 14 minutes of the game, the final differential was 11-5.

The Bears end the season in ninth place in the ECACHL. After starting the season 0-9-0 and going into exam break with a 2-11-1 record, they went 10-8-2 in the second half of the season, challenging for the final conference playoff spot until the final weekend.